Surgical lamp

ABSTRACT

A lamp of the type used in surgical operating rooms comprising a Fresnel lens surrounding a light source for forming a substantially plane beam, a lens having vertically extending cylindrical lenticulations thereon surrounding the Fresnel lens for dividing the plane beam into a multiplicity of outwardly extending beams, and a plurality of reflectors mounted on a ring which surrounds the lenticular lens for reflecting the outwardly extending beams to form a cone of light.

Q United States Patent [191 [111 3,786,244 Hutter, III Jan. 15, 197-4 11 SURGICAL LAMP 1,842,855 1/1932 Bcnard 240 14 )4 2,433,982 l/l948Clarkson, Jr. et al. 240/4115 X [75] Inventor Guides Huue'i Hollywood2,665,369 1 1954 Greppin i i 4. 240 14 callf- 3,075,071 1/1963Lauterbach 240/14 [73] Assignee: Physical Systems, Inc., Hollywood,

C lif Primary Examiner-Richard M. Sheen AttorneyWarren L. Patton et al.[22] Flledz Oct. 2, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 293,930 [57] ABSTRACT e [52]U.S. C1. 240/1.4, 240/41.15 A l mp of t yp used i rgi p r ing r ms [51]Int. Cl. A61g 13/00, F21v 33/00 comprising a Fresnel lens Surrounding alight source A61b/1/06; for forming a substantially plane beam, a lenshaving 58 Field of Search 240/41.1 vertically extending Cylindricallenticulations thereon 240/1 4 41' 3 41 4 92,93,106 1 surrounding theFresnel lens for dividing the plane beam. into a multiplicity ofoutwardly extending 56] References Cited beams, and a plurality ofreflectors mounted on a ring UNITED STATES PATENTS which surrounds thelenticular lens for reflecting the outwardly extending beams to form acone of light. 2,215,634 9/1940 Collins et a1 240/1.4 1 1 3,221,16211/1965 Heenan et al 240/106 R X 6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures f L 30 f634 l 50 PATENTEDJAN 1 51914 saw 2 m 2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It isreadily apparent that a surgeon performing an operation on a patientneeds a light of generally high and substantially constant intensity,one that can readily be adjusted to the desired location and direction,while still leaving the surgeon ample room in which to operate.Additionally, it is very desirablethat the light be one that isessentially shadowless so that the area to be worked upon does notsuffer a sudden decrease in illumination as the' surgeon moves his handsor a scalpel towards the area.

The problem is not 'a new one, since W. L. Patterson was granted US.Pat. Nos. 1,277,109 to 1,277,111 on Aug. 27, 1918, for OPERATING TABLEILLUMI NATOR, and since then, others have continued in this field sothat we have the patent to Verain, No. 1,403,139, granted Jan. 10, 1922,the patent to Martin, No. 1,978,907, granted Oct. 30, 1934, and thepatent to Trippert, granted Mar. 26, 1968, No. 3,375,362. While all ofthese patents have been directed toward the same end, they have failedto find consistent use in operating rooms in this country.

Some of the problems have been in the design of the lamp, which hasfailed to provide a sufficiently intense and sufficiently shadowlessillumination. Other designs have failed to provide a sufficiently coollight which is most important both for the surgeon and the patient.

While the present invention is referred to as a surgical lamp or anoperating room lamp, it will be understood that it is not restricted tosuch uses, and may be used'wherever a high intensity, shadowless lightis desired. For example, the light may advantageously be employed byphysicians and dentists in the process of making examinations, and bythose in other trades and professions, such as engravers, etc.

SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION The present invention comprises a lightingfixture having a centrally located, high intensity lamp surrounded by acylindrical member with a Fresnel lens incorporated therein, both beingenclosed within a shell having lenticular elements therein whereby thelight from the central source is projected outwardly in a predeterminedmanner. Surrounding the central light source and at a much greaterdistance from it is a ringlike member having a number of mirrors thereonthat receive the light from the central source and direct it downwardlyin a generally cone-shaped pattern to the operating surface. Since thelight is coming from all sides by reason of the cone-shaped pattern, afinger or scalpel held just a few' inches above the illuminated surfacewill not cast a shadow, but instead the surface will be substantiallyevenly illuminated, providing the desired shadowless lighting.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing theinstallation and use of the improved surgical light;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the construction andaction of the reflector ring;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, partly in elevation, showing thecentral light source and the surrounding refracting members;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the surgical lamp,illustrating the general arrangement of the various parts;

FIG. 5 shows the use of a slotted ear to provide the quick removalfeature of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing thecounterbalancing and method of supporting the lamp structure forrotation about three perpendicular axes; and

FIG. 7 shows the general arrangement of the reflecting ring and lightsource, as well as the general arrangement of the various lens elements.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED FORM In an operating room it is generallypreferable to have the principal operating room lights mounted from theceiling so that there can be complete freedom of movement about theroom. Other mountings may be used, such as stands, etc., but in general,the principal light sources are usually ceiling mounted. For the samereasons, itis generally important that the lamps be capable of movementthrough 360 in azimuth, and through approximately 180 in elevation. 1

Thus, as indicated in FIG. 1, a lamp 10 is provided with a mounting 11attached to the operating room ceiling 12. The mounting 11 is one thatprovides for substantially universal movement, so that the lamp can bepositioned to shine its light downwardly onto the operating plane. Whilethe mounting l 1 may take any desired form, one suitable form isillustrated in FIG. 6, where it will be seen that a generally tubular,L- shaped member 14, attached to a ceiling connection 16 for rotation inazimuth, has a coupling 18 provided at its lower vertical end. Thecoupling 18 includes an outer member 20 having a centralspherically-shaped aperture 22 adapted to receive and hold a generallyspherical member 24 for rotation in both azimuth and elevation. Thespherical member 24 is concentric with a tubular support 26 to which thelamp 10 is attached at one end, and to which a counter-weight 28 isattached at the other end. To provide for additional freedom ofmovement, the housing 20 is rotatably attached to the upper tubularmember 14 for movement about an axis generally perpendicular to theaxis. of the lower tubular member 26. Thisconnection 30 may be anysuitable form of connection, and in the drawing, it is illustrated as asimple sleeve and shaft bearing.

With the counter-weight 28 to balance the lamp 10, the lamp anditssupport are stable and will remain in any position in which the lampis placed. This, of course, is quite important, since it is necessarythat the surgeonbe able to rely upon the constant positioning of thelight source, once that source has been properly adjusted. While thesupport herein described is quite satisfactory for the intended purpose,it is to be understood that other supports are available andsatisfactory, and the invention is'not to be limited to the use of thisparticular support.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the lamp 10 includes a central housing 32 anda spaced surrounding ring 34. The inner and lower surface of the ring 34is covered with a series of reflectors 36, as hereinafter described,whose function isto receive the light from the light source within thecentral portion 32, and re-direct that light downwardly and inwardly asindicated in FIG. 4. The ring 34 is connected to the central housing 32by radially extending arms 38, while handles 40 are attached to the ringor the radial arms to aid in positioning the lamp 10.

Within the central housing 32 are the light source and the variousoptical elements that provide the particularly defined beam of light.This construction is best illustrated in FIG. 3, where it will be seenthat the lower end of the housing 32 is provided with an internallythreaded sleeve 42 adapted to receive a generally cupshaped lenticularmember 44 having threads 46 at its upper end adapted to engage thecorresponding threads of the sleeve 42. The exterior of the lenticularmember 44 is essentially smooth, but the interior is provided withvertically extending cylindrical lenticulations 48 for a purposehereinafter described.

Centrally located within the lenticular member 44 is the light bulb 50,preferably of a class known as a xenon short are lamp. Such a lamp,which is commercially available, produces a very intense light that isconcentrated in a very small volume, and provides what may be consideredas a point source of light. The lower end of the lamp bulb is supportedby a spider S2 to which the lower contact 54 of the lamp is held, as bya threaded nut. Connection is made from the spider 52 by a conductor 56extending upwardly inside the lenticular member 44 to a centering holder58 from whence connection is made to a contact at the upper end of thesleeve 42.

The centering holder 58 supports a sub-assembly including the lamp 50,the spider 52, a Fresnel lens 60, and other elements. Thus, as seen inFIG. 3, the centering holder 58 is generally a frusto-conical memberhaving its inner periphery bend inwardly to receive and hold the upperend of a cylindrical Fresnel member 60 that is coaxial with the bulb 50and with the lenticular member 44. Also attached to the inner peripheryof the centring holder 58 is a ring member'62 extending inwardly andupwardly from the centering connector and holding an insulating sleeve64 at its upper end. The insulating sleeve 64 holds a pierced block 66that holds the upper end of the bulb 50 and provides an electricalconnection from the lamp through the block to a contact 68 on the upperend of the block. It will be noted that the centering holder 58 isprovided with apertures 76 through which a stream of air passes to enterthe space within the lenticular member 44 and this air passes over thebulb 50 and out the apertures 72 in the pierced block 66. In this way, alonger operating life of the lamp is secured and the problem of heatdissipation is reduced.

Surrounding the lenticular member 44 is an outer protective shell 70held to the lower end of the sleeve 42 by any suitable means, such asthe bayonet connection 74 shown in FIG. 5. This outer protective shell70 acts to prevent any glass or other material from being showered ontothe patient or surgeon in the event that the envelope of the bulb 50explodes, or some other element within the shell breaks.

To replace the bulb 50, the protective shell 70 is first removed byrotating the shell so that the bayonet catch 74 is disengaged, whereuponthe shell may be pulled off. The lenticular member 44 is then unscrewedfrom the threaded sleeve 42, and when the lenticular member is removed,the centering holder 58 comes with it, thus carrying the bulb 50, theFresnel cylinder 60, the cylinder 64, and the pierced block 66.Normally, the entire assembly, consisting of the lenticular member 44and all the elements associated with it, will be replaced when the bulb50 is replaced, since the bulb does get quite warm in operation and itis preferable to work with cool elements when inserting the lenticularmember in operating position. In addition, it is generally faster toreplace the subassembly than to attempt to replace the individual bulb50.

OPTICS As previously mentioned, the bulb 50 acts generally like a pointsource of light and radiates light in substantially all directions,except along and immediately adjacent its longitudinal axis. Theradiation in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis is, for convenience, hereinafter referred to as the horizontalplane. The radiation is substantially uniform around this plane, andsuch uniformity is very desirable. Light rays that are at a substantialangle to the horizontal plane, either above or below, are generally ofno benefit for the purposes of this construction, and hence, to refractthese rays, the cylindrical member 60 is provided that has a cylindricalFresnel lens construction on its exterior surface, so that after passingthrough the cylinder 60, the rays are confined within a relativelynarrow angle above and below the horizontal plane. In this way, a moreintense beam of light is directed outwardly from the bulb 50 in arelatively flat sheet.

After its passage through the Fresnel member 60, the light passesthrough the lenticular member 44 which has a series of generallyvertically-extending cylindrical members 48 on its inner surface thatact as lenses to focus the sheet of light in a horizontal direction.Thus, the Fresnel member 60 focuses the light in a generally verticaldirection to confine the light to a generally horizontal plane. Thelenticular cylinders 48 then refract or focus the light in a horizontalplane so that the light may thereafter be considered as consisting of aseries of beams or rays of light projected radially outwardly in ahorizontal direction from each lenticular cylinder 48.

As indicated in FIG. 4, a beam of light from the bulb 50 strikes amirror surface 36 at approximately the center of the mirror and isreflected downwardly at such an angle that the various beams from thelight source 50 all converge to form an illuminated circle at somesuitable distance, indicated as the distance X in FIG. 4, measured fromthe plane of the ring 34. As indicated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the mirrors 36are mounted on the ring 34 so that the surface of the mirror makes anangle 7 with the center line or axis of the lamp 50 and housing 32, theangle 7 being chosen so that the reflection of the light from the bulb50 is directed to converge to a circle of the desired size at thedesired distance. By way of example, the mirrors 36 may be set toprovide a circle of light approximately 6 to 8 inches in diameter at adistance of approximately 4 to 5 feet from the lower end of the outershell 70. It will be appreciated, of course, that the diameter of thering 34 must be taken into consideration when deciding upon theparticular geometry of the light path as well as the angle that thelight from the bulb 50 (after it has paeed through the Fresnel cylinder60 and the lenticular member 44) makes with the horizontal.

While the xenon short are lamp is presently considered to be the mostdesirable light source, it is to be understood that other light sourcesare quite acceptable. The most desirable source is one that provides awhite light from what may be considered a point source, and

ally, the higher the proportion of luminous energy to heat energy thatis present in the energy radiated from the bulb 50, the cooler theilluminated portion of the patient will be.

While the lenticular member 44 and the Fresnel 'cylinder 60 may be madeof any suitable material, such as glass, certain plastics are alsosatisfactory. Whatever material is selected must be one that does notdegrade the color of the light which forms the projected cone,

nor should the materialbe one that will be adversely affected by theheat and light emitted by the bulb 50. From the foregoing, it will beseen that there has been provided a surgical lamp fully capable ofachieving the objects and securing the advantages heretofore set forth.While the preferred form of the invention has been described, it is tobe understood that modifications may be made, and consequently, theinvention is not to be limited to the particular form or arrangement ofparts herein shown and described, except as limited by the followingclaims.

I claim: l. A lamp of the type used in surgical operating roomscomprising:

a concentrated light source; means for supporting said concentratedlight source; Fresnel lens means surrounding said light source andacting to form a substantially plane beam; lens means having verticallyextending cylindrical lenticulations thereon surrounding said Fresnellens means and acting to divide said plane beam into a multiplicity ofoutwardly extending beams; ring means spaced from said lenticular lensmeans;

and a multiplicity of reflector means mounted on said ring means andacting to reflect said outwardly extending beams to form a cone of lightbeams. 2. A lamp as defined in claim 1 in which said multiplicity ofreflectors are shaped and positioned so that each of said outwardlyextending beams impinges upon a plurality of said reflectors, wherebysaid cone will substantially uniformly illuminate an area spaced fromsaid light source and smaller than said ring, every point in said areareceiving light from a plurality of said reflectors;

3. A lamp as defined in claim l in which said outwardly extending beamsare projected in the form of diverging beams, whereby each of saidoutwardly extending beams impinges upon a plurality of said reflectors,and each of said reflectors receives light from a plurality of saidbeams.

4. A lamp as defined in claim 1 in which said lenticular lens meansforms said outwardly extending beams into diverging beams within theprojected boundaries of said plane beam, and said reflectors are shapedand positioned so that a plurality of said diverging beams impinge uponeach said reflector, and each of said diverging beams impinges upon aplurality of said reflectors, whereby said cone of light beams willsubstantially uniformly illuminate an area spaced from said. lightsource and smaller than said ring, every point in said area receivinglight from a plurality of said reflectors.

5. A lamp as defined in claim 1 in which said lenticular lens means isremovably supported ,at one end and in turn supports said Fresnel lensmeans and said means for supporting said light source, whereby saidlenticular lens means, said- Fresnel lens means, said supporting meansand said light source may Ibeinstalled and removed as a unit.

6. A lamp as defined in claim 1 in which said lenticular lens means isremovably mounted in a holder and in turn supports said Fresnel lensmeans and said means for supporting said light source, all of saidelements being held together in. the required optical alignment, wherebysaid lenticular lens means carries with it said Fresnel lens means, saidsupporting means and said light'source for installation and removal as aunit.

1. A lamp of the type used in surgical operating rooms comprising: aconcentrated light source; means for supporting said concentrated lightsource; Fresnel lens means surrounding said light source and acting toform a substantially plane beam; lens means having vertically extendingcylindrical lenticulations thereon surrounding said Fresnel lens meansand acting to divide said plane beam into a multiplicity of outwardlyextending beams; ring means spaced from said lenticular lens means; anda multiplicity of reflector means mounted on said ring means and actingto reflect said outwardly extending beams to form a cone of light beams.2. A lamp as defined in claim 1 in which said multiplicity of reflectorsare shaped and positioned so that each of said outwardly extending beamsimpinges upon a plurality of said reflectors, whereby said cone willsubstantially uniformly illuminate an area spaced from said light sourceand smaller than said ring, every point in said area receiving lightfrom a plurality of said reflectors.
 3. A lamp as defined in claim 1 inwhich said outwardly extending beams are projected in the form ofdiverging beams, whereby each of said outwardly extending beams impingesupon a plurality of said reflectors, and each of said reflectorsreceives light from a plurality of said beams.
 4. A lamp as defined inclaim 1 in which said lenticular lens means forms said outwardlyextending beams into diverging beams within the projected boundaries ofsaid plane beam, and said reflectors are shaped and positioned so that aplurality of said diverging beams impinge upon each said reflector, andeach of said diverging beams impinges upon a plurality of saidreflectors, whereby said cone of light beams will substantiallyuniformly illuminate an area spaced from said light source and smallerthan said ring, every point in said area receiving light from aplurality of said reflectors.
 5. A lamp as defined in claim 1 in whichsaid lenticular lens means is removably supported at one end and in turnsupports said Fresnel lens means and said means for supporting saidlight source, whereby said lenticular lens means, said Fresnel lensmeans, said supporting means and said light source may be installed andremoved as a unit.
 6. A lamp as defined in claim 1 in which saidlenticular lens means is removably mounted in a holder and in turnsupports said Fresnel lens means and said means for supporting saidlight source, all of said elements being held together in the requiredoptical alignment, whereby said lenticular lens means carries with itsaid Fresnel lens means, said supporting means and said light source forinstallation and removal as a unit.